


Echoes

by NightBearrors



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Past Lives, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, F/F, Past Lives, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:09:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27925786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightBearrors/pseuds/NightBearrors
Summary: She wonders, watching Adora chat away, why she is the one with this burden of knowing.OrThey meet for the first time again. One remembers, one doesn't.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

The first time Adora kisses her it's an electric shock to her system. Her nerves alight, her hair standing on end, as if her body was saying " _finally_."

It's unrushed, simple in the quiet of her car. So different from their last first, the world all but dying around them. Catra's breath catches at the memory and Adora pulls away, eyes searching.

"Was...that okay?" she asks, voice so quiet and tensed, as if waiting for a blow.

"Yes." is Catra's simple answer, word rushed out in a hiss. Adora smiles, looking sheepish, and so Catra touches her hand, lets her heart feel lightened by the contact.

She loves her, has loved her for so long, since she was just memories of another life.


	2. Chapter 2

She's having nightmares. Vivid ones. Of battles and barracks and betrayal. Catra is in them, most of them anyway. Different and yet the same. Sometimes kind. Mostly hateful. Sneering. Saying her name with poison on her tongue. 

She wakes every time in a fog, as if her waking life were really the dream. 

Everything is heavy on those mornings.


	3. Chapter 3

Catra's nails trace the curves of Adora's back, light touches against a drowsy lover's skin. She runs fingertip over birthmark, barely noticeable marks. But she knows them, every inch.

She leans in, kissing them softly, hearing Adora hum in content.

The first time she saw them, she began to panic, memory flickering. Until Adora kissed her neck, brought her back to the current. Touched her until she forgot the feeling, until all she saw was Adora Adora Adora.

Yes, she knows them; she put them there in a time before. But Adora doesn't know. Adora only knows the current. Only knows Catra's soft touch and heart. 

She closes her eyes, presses close to Adora's light and warmth, so grounding in the muddy waters of her mind.

If Adora were to remember, would she stay?


	4. Chapter 4

"Catra!" And gods that smile, a sunbeam cutting through the clouds that had accumulated around her heart in the years without her. 

And her hand is there, reaching for that familiar light of just Adora. But then- claws tearing through fabric and skin hissing bubbles acid green drowning in it voices echo too many eyes- she pulls her hand back, bites nails into palms to remind her nerves of the current.

She can't. Adora doesn't know. She is so full of magic, even still in this life without divine swords and destinies.


	5. Chapter 5

Catra is focused on her phone, mindlessly rolling a sucker between her teeth. Some email or another.

Adora can see then the Catra from her dreams and the stark differences between Real Catra and Dream Catra. She has to wonder what must be wrong with her head to imagine a Catra so...

Her hair is pulled back, her ears exposed. There's three hoops across her earlobe. Catra's had them since they'd met, but suddenly they seem...

Adora's fingers gently tweak the cuff of Catra's ear before she can think to stop herself.

Catra blinks, looks over as she pulls the sucker out of her mouth, laughs when Adora quickly pulls her hand back.

"Can I help you?" She asks. 

"Ah- no-" Adora looks away, embarrassed by her own thoughts and lack of impulse control. But…

She glances back to Catra, who had returned to her phone with just a bemused shake of her head.

Dream Catra's ears were just... 

The pale shell of Real Catra's ear called to her again though and Adora finds her fingers ghosting over it, a whisper hopping out over the touch,

"They're just so different…" 

She feels Catra tense, teeth clamping down on her candy roughly before she looks over and-

Fear.

Adora blinks, and Catra's expression has changed so fast she thinks maybe she imagined the panicked wideness of her eyes, the catch of breath.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She says it affectionately as she pushes Adora's shoulder, stands up from the table. "Dummy."

Catra talks to the cashier but Adora is too far away to hear and attention too focused to care what she's ordering. 

She glances over at Adora and suddenly they're not in their favorite used book store. Theyre in a room, luxurious and open. It's bright and the walls are a pleasant pastel. Catra is in red. Dark slacks with gold trim. Those ears. A tail. 

And then it's gone and she can hear the fuzzy radio playing and feel the worn table under her hands again. Catra is walking back over with a small plate holding a pastry.


	6. Chapter 6

"You died in my arms once." She says it matter-of-factly as she whisks the eggs and Catra almost chokes on her orange juice.

"...I did, huh?" She asks nonchalantly, her heart ready to sink and combust all at once.

"...In a dream." Adora eventually adds after pouring some egg in the pan. Catra's heart relaxes a bit, but she still feels it _thump thump thump_.

Their breakfast sizzles as it cooks, Adora's gaze focused in a way that leaves Catra tense.

"We were fighting. He 'chipped you." Catra's hand shoots to the back of her neck, ghost pains burning up her spine as if to say _he did he did_

"I didn't know what to do." Her chest feels like it's being squeezed, like someone trying to get every last bit of juice from a lemon slice.

"And then he-" Adora cuts herself off, absently touches the unused spatula to her mouth.

She wants her to stop, but is too afraid to breathe. So she says nothing, nails digging into her neck as her mind tries to stay in the current.

"You fell, so I jumped after you." It's there Adora's voice cracks. It's slight, but it's there. "And then I held you as you died."

Catra feels like she's dying now in that small kitchen. "Cozy," they had happily described it. It feels anything but then. She can't breathe. It's like the air is suddenly thick, clogging her throat, her nose. It's such a bright green and it's everywhere. It burns, like fire blossoming across her skin. It's filling her up, pushing her out of herself and the fire is inside her now too and it's going to burn her up until there's nothing left and she's screaming- they're watching they're talking all as one- all beings must suffer to become pure- cast out the shadows, cast out the shadows _cast out the shadows_ -

"Catra!" And she's back. Adora's holding her arms against the wet tile of the kitchen, sitting firmly on her waist. She's crying. Catra's throat feels raw. The smoke alarm is going off. Something smells burnt.

She feels a sting in her arm and realizes she must be bleeding.

"The- smoke-" Catra manages and realizes she's crying too. But Adora doesn't let go and doesn't move. She's laying in spilt orange juice. It has a sharp smell to it against the burnt eggs.

"They're not dreams, are they?" It's said as a statement and Catra feels Adora's grip loosen. She doesn't move to sit up. Adora places her forehead down to rest against Catra's chest. The weight is comforting. Grounding.

She's here. They're here. Sitting in sticky orange juice, fire alarm screeching.

"...No." It's hoarse and quiet, but Adora hears it, grips Catra's sleeves tighter and sobs into her, just once.

Their roommates are the ones to douse the pan and open the windows, panicking at the sudden chaos that woke them. They try to ask what happened, are they hurt, what are they doing. Adora just asks for gauze and tape, even though she is the one to fetch them.

Catra sits at the table as Adora cleans her elbow, wraps it with such care. They clean the kitchen in silence.

She lets Adora lead her to the bathroom, lets Adora strip her before they both ease into the hot bath water. She even lets Adora wash her hair before they find themselves holding each other. Clinging as if they were adrift at sea instead of bathwater.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSA: if someone is having a PTSD flashback, don't just grab them ✌


End file.
